Data may be stored in integrated circuit elements of various types. When power is applied to a circuit, the data operated on by a controller may be stored in temporary, volatile memory. When the power to the circuit containing this temporary, volatile memory is removed, however, the data in the temporary, volatile memory is lost. Other types of non-volatile, but rewritable, elements such as EEPROMs and NVRAMs are utilized to store information that is maintained after power is removed from a circuit containing these elements. Another type of element that may be utilized in integrated circuits to store information are one time programmable elements. These one time programmable elements may contain information that has been written to the elements once and then used in a read-only manner. Such one time programmable elements may be implemented utilizing various technologies.
One type of technology utilized to provide one-time programmability is fuse cells. Fuse cells typically provide the ability for a logic value to be determined by programming the fuse cell by “blowing” or programming one or more fuse elements. An ideal fuse element may be one that acts as a short circuit when not programmed and an open circuit when programmed. Actual fuse elements, however, may only approximate short circuits and open circuits when not programmed and programmed, respectively. That is to say that actual fuse elements typically have associated with them a low resistive state and a high resistive state.